A current occupational hazard is that my mother is wont to pass me certain pieces of jewellery of hers (god forbid, sometimes even of her friends) that have fallen apart. The latest example lies to the left.

Now let's look at these earrings closer. The style is clean and simple - I like. However, the technical design and quality of materials sucks stinky baboon ass. Not only are the hoops and settings constructed from what feels like lousy, lightweight metalised plastic which is rubbing off in certain areas (!!!), the loops that connect the drops to the earwires are open. Which means you can yank them apart effortlessly if so inclined. I am also 100% sure these are either glass or crystal. Likely with a mirror coating at the back.

Never mind that I fixed them in two seconds. I asked my dearest mother how much she paid for this nonsense, and she said it was $30 from some brand they carry in the department stores. I screeched in outrage because, in my humble opinion, they aren't worth more than $2. OK, maybe $4. Heck - for $30, I think I can get at least 5 different pairs of earrings from a streetside pushcart.

And today, I saw a comment that saddened me: someone (a Singaporean) let on to a friend that although one of the pairs of Vintaj brass earrings they purchased from me was their favourite, they felt I run an "expensive online shop". Riiiight... materials aren't cheap y'know, even at wholesale rates.

Add in the fact that some people, as I mentioned in my previous post, get away so damn successfully with even more obscene prices for their shoddy craftsmanship, and you end up with an extremely disgruntled and disillusioned me.

I don't know how many times I need to remind people that (a) I use only quality materials; (b) you do not pay any useless middlemen so costs are as low as humanly possible; (c) most of my designs are limited. But I guess a large portion of local consumers are already used to and therefore constantly looking for disposability a.k.a. cheap temporary shit. Quantity > quality.

My mother included.

P.S. I don't like to get accessories for my mum because her style is totally different from mine. She likes colourful, gaudy, glittery things. When I give her costlier but classic pieces (not even made by myself), she doesn't even wear them as often. BAH.

I goofed up a bit on a commission today... with the result that I get to keep these for myself. Kind of what I always wanted. Except that I would have made them even longer.


In my opinion there are already too many of these around on the interwebs (although I wanted mine to be more bamboo leaf-shaped rather than fish-shaped), but if you ask nicely I can make you a pair :P

Geez, not beer. New jewellery and some production notes :)

You've probably seen oxidised sterling silver pieces that have been left fully black and the ones that have been buffed to show highlights. I'd keep the metal fully black if I want to play up colour contrasts with bright gems, but if I want to emphasise textures, I buff the pieces either with steel wool, fine-grit sandpaper or a brass-bristled brush. This lightens the surface as it physically removes the oxidation, while leaving recessed areas dark, so what I call the "dimensionality" of the piece is enhanced:


Anyway, I've been wanting to do these twisted wire hoops and seeing as the Eden Hoops have been quite well-received (in fact I have only 2 pairs left and it'll be some time before I restock those etched hoops), decided to make a similar design using (my precious!) large keishi pearls but with an added cross-cross weave of seed pearls. This also evolved into a bangle, formed with heavier wire. And now there is wire littered over my desk and floor.


They're probably the last things you'll imagine when you think of "pearl earrings" and "pearl bracelet", but I think they're interesting :) Now listed in my Etsy shop.

I've been working with more wire today... need to oxidise later and take pics tomorrow morning :P

It was too hot to do anything today. I get terrible headaches when it's too bright and I was basically a zombie with a throbbing right eye from 1-5pm today.

These are just really rough prototypes formed from craft wire and, as a departure from the symmetrical and geometric shapes I usually like to do, they're wonderfully dimensional, irregular and organic. Well, when I say irregular, I mean they are just not 100% perfect curves. They are still of similar height and width. I couldn't live with myself otherwise :\


Now to figure out what shape I want the earwires in, and actually get round to making these...

Here is a look at the new bangles I've been working on. Can you believe I've been thinking about them since late last year but never got round to making them? I'd wanted to put together a collection of wardrobe essentials for 2009 but meh.... I didn't finish the pieces I planned. Will eventually get round to them I guess!


This is a pretty basic design which is similar to the pearl eternity necklaces I did. An elliptical base was formed and hammered out of 16 gauge sterling wire, covered by coiled 26 gauge wire and then wrapped again with 28 gauge and the rondelles (light amethyst and rose quartz). I might tweak the wrapping a bit or put in some embellishments next time because I like to see a bit of metal with the stones. But that's just me.

I also just wanted to say... these cuffs are a nightmare to photograph because they're really, really flat; even when propped up on a rock or something, it's so hard to achieve a realistic DoF. Can you imagine how I contorted myself to shoot my wrist using a dSLR that doesn't have a live preview screen??

I've been feeling rather poorly these past few days, no thanks at all to protracted CNY snacking on all the "heaty" stuff. It's a darned shame that all these foods that are bad for you have to taste so good.

Anyway, I wanted to post new photos I took this morning of the gold Flint Hoops, which I had to rush through before going out on errands. I also discovered that my obssession with having them matching, symmetrical, etc means that I can only produce like 3 pairs per hour! I'm just not cut out for factory-line mass production :P And since I feel like boring you with details, these are the steps that go into the creation of each set.


1. Measure and cut wire, trying to avoid being gouged by the sharp ends.

2. File both ends and form the loops, making sure they are like 98% identical in size/shape and lie perfectly horizontal.

3. Form the hoops around a mandrel, and make the sticking up bits that hooks into the loops. Harder than it sounds to make everything exactly even :\

4. Lay flat and hammer with mallet, which does not flatten the metal, just hardens it. Reshape with pliers if necessary.

5. Hammer skinny edges with flat side of hammer to form the shape and background texture, then hammer skinny edges with pointy side of hammer to make the rough facets.

6. Test opening and closing, polish them up, and feel the lurve!

It's Chinese New Year tomorrow... a celebration of spring. Whether or not the seasons are changing where you live, CNY is a nice way to start off the year since we're still only 25 days into 2009. Yes, I'm trying to think positive and will attempt to ignore the usual impertinent questions about motherhood. Some family/relatives will be back from travel or visiting from overseas, so it's probably appropriate to catch up, since we only do it basically once a year (and for those living abroad, once every 3 years?!).

I'll leave you with a new piece that I'd actually been planning for a couple of weeks, but only had the time to sit down and finish yesterday. It also took longer than expected; first I oxidised the chain, pins and handmade clasp, which involved mashing up boiled eggs and leaving everything in a box to stew. Then I cleaned the metal and sanded some of the black off to give it more depth. Then began the tedious process of wiring all the drops onto the chain (breaking quite a few pins along the way). It was therapeutic in a masochistic sense, but my fingertips ended up sore and I worked into the night, which I dislike because I do not have any affinity with wire/metal during the hours of darkness (artificial light is just not the same).


Fleur d'Oranger (orange blossoms) is composed of those lovely carnelian rondelles and petal-like keishi pearls set off against oxidised sterling silver chain. It's a long but delicate necklace at 36" so it can be worn single or doubled, even as a bracelet if you're so inclined. Keishi - Japanese for "poppyseed" - pearls are special because unlike regular pearls, they do not have a nucleus. This means they are totally made of nacre and are therefore more lustrous. Anyway... there will be only 2 pieces of this, currently in my jewellery boutique and soon to come on my Etsy shop.

I do love the scent of orange blossoms, by the way. Jo Malone's Orange Blossom cologne is one of my favourites (after Lime Basil Mandarin). And did you know that orange flower water is used in the baking of madeleines? If you've had the chance to sniff these dainty white blooms right off the tree, you'd be as amazed as me that such a powerful fragrance comes from such an innocent and nondescript flower. Like jasmine.... but that's another story :)

Just a little reminder - there will be no postal services on 26-27 Jan as these are public holidays in Singapore. My shops are still open of course, and any purchases made will be shipped from 28 Jan onwards.

The other day while walking home, I noticed some fallen branches by the road and picked one up, thinking I could use it as a photo prop. I also took home a couple of pieces of bark for good measure but am not sure whether I'll use those eventually!

So far, I've not been very adventurous when it comes to props, but sometimes you have a piece of jewellery that lies flat and it just needs some help to be that little bit more visible. Yes, of course there are the standard manufactured earring stands and jewellery busts, and they should be included in product shots (though sometimes I'm a little guilty of not doing that) but I feel they can end up looking pretty cold and commercial. Bits of nature are always nice.

And if you've noticed, I've also slowly been changing my backgrounds, trying to make them toned down, less obtrusive and not form too much of a contrast with the subject. I don't know, it's just a subtle change for now. I am also working towards a couple of things for the new year.

I've been having this insane urge to create lots of things... not necessarily jewellery... loads of stuff from bags to muffins to all kinds of visual art. I feel like my brain's about to burst and that there will never be enough time for it all. Help.

Here's a jewellery pet peeve I never knew I had: when people mix 14k goldfill and 22-24k vermeil, goldfill and brass, or sterling silver and pewter components. On the same piece.

Sure, it's nice when you mix metals for a contrasting difference, but with these combinations, it's like looking at two different shades of turquoise instead of looking at turquoise and blue. I feel really uncomfortable when things are almost the same but not quite. What's more, these different metals are going to oxidise at different rates and change the look of your jewellery.

Is it so hard to find a matching component?? I just don't get it.

So excited! I made more hoops today!


These were formed from 14K goldfilled wire, 18ga for the hammered ones and 20ga for the twisted ones. I love the facets on the hammered ones, and I actually do spend quite a bit of time bashing away at them with different hammers first on the sides to get them hard, then on the curves to give them some texture. Then it's a bit more whacking and reshaping on the sides before they're finally satisfactory. Classic gold hoops but I do try to make them different. They'll be in my shop soon.

I also practically tortured my eyes trying to shoot photos today (did some other sterling hoops as well) in the dying light; by about 5pm it was getting really difficult. Guess I'll continue tomorrow...

So the advantage of being able to create my own jewellery is that I am able to make exactly what I want - most of the time anyway. And, finally having gotten over my phobia of hoops or long earrings getting caught in stuff and being ripped out, I have been wanting hammered hoops.

While there is already a plethora of these things out there, I actually want the hammered bit to be facing up and not to the side, if you know what I mean. Plus, I don't want 2-piece earrings that require the itty bitty backing to stay secure. Couldn't find anything I liked, so...

The cut ends wire of wire are verrrry sharp - you know what a klutz I am - and cutting must be my next most hated activity to filing. A few pierces and scrapes and lotsa shaping and hammering later, these emerged:


I'm quite happy with how they turned out, considering it's my first time making hoops. These measure 1" and were formed from 20ga wire so they're a skinny 1mm wide. They're for myself though. I have a couple of others coming up in twisted wire and a slightly thicker gauge. Just imagine what they'll look like after being oxidised and polished... yum :)

So, do you wear hoops? Would you purchase something like these?

Sometimes I get asked (by other jewellery artists) how my clusters turn out so compact - I was just asked again this morning. Well... through trial and error of course. I've never purchased any of those complicated beading tutorials and certainly don't plan on producing my own because I'm no expert and because I'd rather focus on creating than teaching (sometimes I don't even know what I'm doing!). Some of my initial attempts were also a bit weird because not being balled-up tightly enough gave them too much movement that I didn't want. You live, you learn.

Let's just put it this way: there are only that many ways to wire-wrap or string a bead. It has holes, you have wire. Play, and think about shape and proportion. If you looked closely at the finished pictures, you'd be able to figure it out and do it the same way as I've done. Or at least, that is how I like to figure out things on my own. I just don't have the patience to go through a 58-step tutorial no matter how detailed it is, and neither do I like to spoonfeed people.

I'm a scatterbrain. It doesn't help that my work area is constantly messy, no matter how often I try to tidy up (which actually is not very often). I cannot explain what it is like to be working on something and needing to dig out every finding from the boxes only to forget about putting the unused ones back after completing the piece.

So I've been mostly in a funk, feeling kinda restless, even directionless, and not really interested in work even though I have a few custom requests waiting around. Maybe it's the weather? It's been so hot recently, and it just saps all the energy outta me. To give my fingers a break, I went back to stringing. Which was OK until I misplaced my box of sterling bullion wire (I have to use it; I just don't like the look of exposed beading wire around the clasp). I can't seem to find it! Argh!!!

When I create earrings, every component must match or be symmetrical. I would examine each bead I have in the lot, trying to pick out a pair that matches in size, shape and colour. Earwires are formed in pairs to keep them as similar as possible. If I'm using patinated or vintage metal, the colouring has to match. Even the wire-wrapping has to be even. Then I line them up and check that they dangle at the same lengths. It really bugs me if they don't. I've been known to dismantle and redo if I weren't satisfied.


I do spend a fair bit of time ensuring that each pair of Neoterica earrings ends up the same length and shape. Hammering alters the shape slightly, so it has to be done carefully and checked at all stages. If gemstone accents are used, again, they need to match because it's very obvious if they don't. And they need to be anchored at the same point on the wire or it's gonna look lopsided. I've been asked to use a too-large bead on a medium sized hoop and I was quite hesitant to do it because the whole earring would look out of proportion and be physically unbalanced. The larger the bead, the larger the hoop, doh. So far, these do seem to sell well, but I don't list them very often because they're not all that easy to produce according to the standard that I want.

Even for bracelets, particularly when working with freeform nuggets, I need to arrange them in a pleasing order that flows from one shape to the next. Then I would face the more tapered ends towards the clasp.

I have seen sellers offering earrings that don't "match" (and I'm not talking about those intentionally asymmetrical ones) - to my eye at least - and I empathise that they probably spent a bit of time on it and if it were new to them, it would've been quite an exciting process in itself. I can't help but wonder though, if the pieces will sell eventually. Maybe I still spend too much time checking out other people's stuff.

I'm not a snob... I don't think so and I really hope not. It comes down to the same thing that always used to happen at the office: should we be imposing our standards on others? Just because something is obvious to us, doesn't mean that it is to others. This applies to lots of things in life, not just one's craft.

At the completion of each project, I just ask myself - look here, is this something I am proud of as an artist? Would I wear it?

Etsy is giving me much grief. After several days of painful slowness, it has come to a point where I cannot even load the Forum or Time Machine 2. It's rather pathetic. And to think I delayed my lunch today to photograph a whole bunch of supplies when I can't even upload images. It seems that many of us from Australia and Singapore are in the same boat. And we're not doing anything different from what we normally do, except maybe cursing at the situation. Koff. So I might as well take a break seeing as I won't be around from Wed-Sun. It's disappointing though.

I finally completed the Queen Mab bracelet a couple of days ago:


There are hundreds of tiny gemstones there in many, many hours of work. It's quite an achievement for me because I tend to get distracted easily, especially from repetitive tasks. I literally forced myself to complete the final 1" within a time limit. Actually, I made this as a demo for a custom order. So guess what? Now I get to repeat the entire experience but with more expensive jewels! Wheeee... I can't decide whether to keep this or to put it up for sale though. I don't know if anyone would want to buy it since it will cost several times more than my most expensive bracelets to date, and shipping will be a worrisome affair.

In other news, I was on a cleaning rampage today... wiping and polishing, scrubbing and mopping till my hands were red, puffy and trembling. I used to wear rubber gloves for these wet chores but I rather hate the feeling I get on my hands after they're removed. It's just... weird. It's a miracle that a cousin once said I have such young-looking hands. (Um, I don't smoke dearie, you do, and it really ages one a lot) Oh... and poor T, he knocked over 2 boxes of tiny beads whose lids came open. Gaaaaaack. The beads either fell out or got mixed up in all the compartments. By the time he'd finished sorting them out, I think I'd done half a room and one bathroom.

Here is a question for those of you on social networking sites: Do you add people whom you worked with but hated? Either just for fun or because they added you? They may or may not know how you felt about them though, because you were ahem, "professional" about it ^^

Mmmmm, I'm tired. Going to read and sleep :)

This was a pleasant surprise! This morning, just an hour or so after I discovered my Neopod earrings in gallerialinda's treasury, the entire treasury list made it to Etsy's front page! It's a pod-themed list. This motif has proved quite popular amongst jewellery crafters and visual artists, and there are many interesting interpretations of it on Etsy. Well, it's been changed this evening to a really cute dachschund treasury - which also caught my eye this morning - but I'm grateful to have had the exposure because I've amassed more than 400 hearts now.

I have been busy creating these past two days, well, yesterday more than today. And, not as productively as I would've liked. This afternoon, I tried oxidising some pieces but to my unspeakable frustration and disappointment, they would not turn a consistent black no matter how many times I washed to rid them of grease and soaked in LoS solution (I've made 3 fresh brews already). I see dark brown patches here and there. Will have to check in a while to see how the latest round fared. Maybe after several openings in this high humidity (I do store it with some moisture absorbers, but no idea whether it helps), my tub of LoS has decomposed or something. The solution, which used to be bright transparent yellow, is now slightly cloudy and the lump of LoS doesn't fully dissolve. BAAAAAH.

My broadband connection is FRUSTRATINGLY slow tonight. I can't even browse or finish an Etsy listing without getting the "Internet Explorer cannot display..." page. And it's not just Etsy - other sites as well. WTF, I feel like I'm on 9.6kbps dialup. I guess I'll try again tomorrow morning.

Most of today was spent finishing earrings and necklaces I oxidised last night, and taking photos of them. This time, instead of just buffing them with steel wool for a matte finish, I wet-sanded them with superfine sandpaper and polished them with a cloth. Took me a while to get through everything but now they have this distressed, weathered look that I think contrasts nicely with the faceted gems I used them with.

Some of the supplies I mentioned earlier also arrived today! Check out these pretty freshwater pearl strands:


I love freshwater pearls but so far have not been too adventurous with colours because I felt they look fake, so I stuck mainly with white, ivory, peach, mauve, silver and grey. But there are great colours (well, to me at least!) out there if you look around enough; I just couldn't resist these and am really pleased at how they turned out. Can't wait to use them!

I'm tired... not sleepy but tired. Got up at 7.45am to list some stuff, check email and generally potter around Etsy. I mean... I was having a Showcase after all. I need to stop operating on EDT and fix my own daily schedule. I'm living on 5 hours' sleep a day. I get distracted really easily and sometimes forget what I'm doing. I could be busy with Task A when something happens and I jump to Task B, then Task C and so on...

So the funny thing about this Showcase was that I had a fair amount of views and hearts as usual, but not a single sale. Then a cousin of mine, who I'd been MSNing a bit in the morning, dropped in her order of not one but four items (thank you again!). Apparently that started the ball rolling because I've been relatively inundated with orders today. At some overwhelming stage I found it difficult to keep track of who had paid and who hadn't, which was supposed to determine whose packages I needed to get out first.

At the same time I'd been trying to create some new pieces because I haven't had much time this week for anything. Didn't get very far though. It's a "good" problem to have I suppose, but things flying out faster than I can put them in makes me feel a bit insecure :X

In other news, I finally opened my rotary tumbler package only to find I couldn't even prise the lid off the barrel (T did it for me in the end). How am I supposed to use this thing! And the rubber smells. And I need to get a step-down transformer! Zzzzz. But I also had fun hammering stuff on my new steel block. Too bad it wasn't loud enough to piss off the neighbour who was smoking near my window.

Right, I've gone and done it. I used the word "Petalicious" in my earring names. I've always despised made up words like that, ones that end with "-licious" or "-tastic". Damn. The earrings are cute though, and I manipulated the filigree beadcap to flip out at the ends like a little blossom. I've done this in prehnite as well.

So this week, I've been making mostly earrings because I needed to get new items listed quickly after coming back from holiday. Another thing I managed to play with was oxidising my sterling silver pieces so they turn black. I can then either buff them, leaving the metal a bit grey with blackened bits in grooves and depressions, or leave them completely black for a really nice contrast against lighter-coloured materials.

A word on oxidisation: It's a chemical patination treatment which involves dipping sterling silver into a Liver of Sulphur solution, which reportedly smells really bad because it gives off a sulphide gas. I've had my little tub of LoS for about half a year and hadn't dared to use it as I read about how foul and dangerous it is. Yes it is dangerous so I wore a mask and goggles but basically did it in my high-rise kitchen with a fan blowing out from behind me so I hardly smelled a thing. And I suppose if you've been to Rotorua then you know what to expect... haha. Getting rid of the used solution is the yuckiest part yet.

Here lie the unsuspecting victims. Snigger snigger.


Wisp (in store now)
Pink chalcedony and Swarovski crystal on a delicate sterling silver chain which has been brushed for a weathered feel.


Froth (coming soon)
An iridescent freshwater Biwa pearl on a textured sterling silver chain that has been left black for contrast. I just love how pearls look with patinated metal!


I'd probably want to avoid immersing the entire finished item into the solution in future unless it's made of glass, crystal or acrylic. Was hesitant to dunk the pearl but I saw other people had done it without any problems. So I gave it a shot.

That's all for now... been thinking of bead designs when I try to sleep; I hope insomnia is not slowly creeping back.